THE pound continued to climb against the dollar this morning, hitting $1.5792 -- up from January's 23-year low of $1.35.

"News from the corporate front is pretty encouraging, and that's supporting the pound," said Jeremy Stretch, a senior currency strategist at Rabobank International in London. "Markets are looking through the debris for pieces of good news and then acting accordingly."

The dollar was also weaker against both the euro and the yen. It dropped to the lowest level against the euro since January. The euro climbed against the dollar to $1.3808.

Meanwhile demand for gold continued to rocket in the first quarter of the year, the World Gold Council (WGC) said yesterday, although it is wary investors rather than recession-spooked consumers are fuelling the booming growth.

Between January and March this year total demand for the yellow metal rose 38% in volume terms to more than 1,000 tonnes, according to the report published yesterday. In value terms, the market soared 36% to hit $29.7bn (Pounds 19bn).

Investor demand for both exchange traded funds (ETFs) and the traditional bars and coins shot up by a whopping 248% in volume terms to 596 tonnes, says the WGC. In the last half of last year, demand for the physical metal was the big winner. In the first quarter of 2009, demand for bars and coins was up by a respectable 33% to 131 tonnes. But the real boom was in funds. The quarter saw a record level of investment in ETFs, with demand rocketing 540% to 465 tonnes, worth a total of $13.6bn.

The SPDR Gold Trust -- the world's biggest ETF -- has added more than 325 tonnes since the start of the year, now holding more than 1,105 tonnes, with a value of more than $33bn.

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